I keeping thinking about the idea of a learning curve,
but I only realized this morning that the phrase is a little strange.
When we say that something has “a steep learning curve” we mean it’s difficult to master,
but if the curve measures learning versus time,
then isn’t a steep one good?

What I think we actually mean is “how quickly I have to learn in order to accomplish anything useful”.
If someone has to learn a lot before they can do the things they want to do,
they’re on the red curve below:

The curve they want to be on is the green one,
because “steep” means “a little new knowledge lets me accomplish many things”.
Training can help make a badly-designed tool more accessible,
but the best lessons in the world can’t turn the red curve into the green one.